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It is “important that the Strait of Hormuz be reopened, without controls or checks, as soon as possible,” declared Emmanuel Macron this Tuesday, April 14 in the morning. In fact, six ships leaving Iranian ports crossed the Strait of Hormuz today. They were reportedly stopped by US naval forces, who claim that the blockade is in place. What could happen to them?
This text corresponds to a portion of the above report’s transcription. Click on the video to watch it in full.
Since the American blockade was implemented on Monday, April 13 at 4 p.m., we have followed several ships coming from Iranian ports that have crossed the Strait of Hormuz. We have traced their route from maritime maps. The first identified boat is the Christianna, a Liberian-flagged cargo ship. It departed on April 10 at 10 p.m. from the Iranian port of Bandar-e Emam Khomeini, after unloading maize. It passed near the Iranian island of Larak, a passage controlled by Tehran, around 6 p.m. yesterday, 2 hours after the American blockade was put in place.
The second identified boat is the Elpis tanker, flying the flag of Comoros. This ship is under US sanctions for its ties to Iran. It departed from the Iranian port of Bushehr on March 31 at 8:36 a.m. It also passed near Larak around 6 p.m. yesterday after the American blockade. But since then, one has turned back, while the other remains stationary at the entrance to the Gulf of Oman.
A third ship, the Chinese tanker Rich Starry transporting methanol, also under US sanctions, passed through the strait before the blockade, but stopped and turned back.
Did these ships stop on their own or were they intercepted by the United States upon exiting the strait? The US military announces that they were indeed stopped: “During the first 24 hours, no ship managed to pass through the American blockade and six merchant ships obeyed the order of the American forces to turn around and return to an Iranian port in the Gulf of Oman,” confirmed the US Central Command.
10,000 US soldiers, over a dozen warships including two destroyers, the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, and dozens of planes are mobilized for this blockade. The US is exerting maximum pressure to force negotiations with Iran to resume. Talks could resume by the end of the week.
